I Finally Found The Perfect Dog Diarrhea Treatment!

I’ve had dogs all my life, and I’ve tried a number of different dog diarrhea home remedies through the years.

With my previous dogs, they would pretty much eat whatever I gave them to try — from a bland baked potato, to cooked rice, to scrambled eggs.

Not this dog!

Tenor had diarrhea yesterday, and I spent all morning trying to find the perfect combination of human foods that he would eat.

These are the best human foods have been proven to help with dog diarrhea:

• Cooked white rice – no go. He wouldn’t touch it.
• Scrambled egg – nope. Not having that either.
• Canned pumpkin – ah ha! He was interested at first, but then no way.

By noon, I was struggling to find a food that would help to bind him up and put an end to the diarrhea that he would actually eat.

Then, I found it…

Chicken Soup Is Good For The Soul

Finally, I remembered… chicken broth!

Since I had all of this leftover cooked rice, scrambled eggs, and canned pumpkin stored in the refrigerator, I decided to try one last thing. I combined all of that with a little chicken broth — for my homemade dog diarrhea treatment.

It worked!

Oh, and I also added a few chunks of his all-time favorite kibble (Biljac Frozen) that I keep stored away for special occasions — like to put in his treat toys.

For the rest of the day, he couldn’t get enough of that combination of diarrhea-curing foods.

And by late evening, his diarrhea was completely gone.

I’ve never been able to clear up a case of diarrhea in dogs that quickly before. Usually, it takes overnight.

Two days is typically the norm before I take my dog to the vet for a professional diagnosis and dog diarrhea treatment.

A Word About Pumpkin For Dogs

Pumpkin is an ingredient that is often included in dog bland diet recipes.

The most important thing when you’re buying canned pumpkin is to use 100% pure pumpkin puree and NOT “pumpkin pie filling”. They look similar, but the pumpkin pie filling has extra sweeteners and spices added as flavorings. Dogs should only eat 100% pure pumpkin puree.

For what it’s worth, pumpkin can have both a binding effect (good for dogs with diarrhea), as well as a loosening effect (good for dogs with constipation).

So, as an at-home remedy, it works differently with different dogs at different times.

To help firm up the stool in cases of soft stools or diarrhea, give canned pumpkin to your dog in small amounts — no more than 1 tablespoon for a large/giant breed dog or 1 to 2 teaspoons for a small to medium breed dog, once or twice a day.

~ Dr. Leslie Brooks, DVM

How To Treat Diarrhea In Dogs Yourself

Some tips when treating dog diarrhea yourself at home:

• Feed your dog only very small portions of these human foods at one time. (About a palmful each time.)
• Feed your dog the foods that will help to bind their stool several times throughout the day. (About 4 or 5 times.)
• Don’t feed your dog their normal food during this time. (Only a few bits mixed in, if you need to get your dog to notice the new foods that are there.)
• Don’t let the diarrhea continue for long without phoning or visiting the vet — especially if your dog is a puppy. (Diarrhea in dogs can quickly get worse, and it might signal something more serious is going on.)
• At the very least, an all-natural probiotic like Diarrice will help alleviate the symptoms of dog diarrhea — even for puppies. (It works practically overnight.)

More Good Foods, Less Time Squatting

Finally, (and this is a difficult one to do as a pet parent)… don’t let your dog outside to go to the bathroom too many times in a row.

Only you will know what your dog’s signals for going outside are. And you should be able to tell when they really need to go — as opposed to when they’re just uncomfortable and keeps thinking they have to go.

Once you get to the point that straight liquid is coming out, I’ve found that it’s helpful if you can help those dog diarrhea home remedy foods do their work by letting them sit inside the dog’s tummy to “bind” for awhile.

Otherwise, your dog will indeed keep squirting liquid, and you’re likely to have a dog with a sore behind in no time. Plus, the diarrhea will take longer to cure.

That’s just what I’ve learned with my 3 dogs through the years. Everyone may not feel the same way on this, but even if you can get your dog to wait 5 extra minutes each time — that could make a difference in how quickly the diarrhea goes away. The idea is to play with your dog during this time and do things that take their mind off of having to go to the bathroom.

Of course, this only applies when your dog is not having any difficulty keeping the diarrhea inside of them. If your dog’s diarrhea is to the point that they’re messing in the house, then by all means let your dog do whatever they have to do… outside!

UPDATE: A Few More Tips I’ve Learned Along The Way!

If your dog is finicky and has no interest in eating the bland dog food diet, try adding a small amount of baby food OR a few small pieces of a dog food/treat that your dog is already familiar with to the bland food mixture. (Best would be a healthy single-ingredient dog treat or a healthy dog kibble — like Biljac frozen dog food.)

I always keep Biljac frozen food in my freezer for dog diarrhea days AND as a high-reward treat for my dogs at various times throughout the year. I divide the Biljac into into lots of smaller serving-size freezer bags – so I can just grab smallish bag and dole out the pellets as treats, without rushing through the entire $10 bag of frozen Biljac food.

And another go-to that I’ve found super easy to prepare for my dog’s bland diet on diarrhea days is baby potatoes!

My youngest dogs are 50 lbs each. For this dog diarrhea treatment, I microwave 2 small baby potatoes per dog.

1. Pierce holes in the potatoes first, so they’ll cook faster and more evenly.
2. Microwave all 4 potatoes at the same time for about 1 minute and 30 seconds.
3. Then, allow the potatoes to cool completely.

Sometimes, I mash up the baby potatoes and serve them that way to my dog. Other times, I use a sharp knife to dice the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Both ways are a hit with my dogs!

Rice vs. Pumpkin For Dog Diarrhea

If I had to pick one food to start with when your dog has diarrhea, I’d say start with canned pumpkin. It’s just healthier for dogs and easier for them to digest.

100% pure canned pumpkin puree contains a whopping 7 grams of soluble fiber per cup, while cooked white rice only contains 1.2 grams of fiber per cup. Since soluble fiber slows down GI transit times and coats and soothes irritated bowels, you can start to see why pumpkin is better than rice for diarrhea. Additionally, dogs with diarrhea are at risk for dehydration due to the loss of important electrolytes, like potassium. Pumpkin contains a whopping 505 mg of potassium per cup, giving it another leg up over rice.

~We Feed Raw

However, I don’t believe that most people keep pure canned pumpkin in their pantry at all times. In which case, the next best human food to give a dog with diarrhea is plain white rice. It’s a great backup — just make sure that it’s really fluffy (all of the water has been absorbed and there are no hard pieces of rice left). And if you’re wondering about brown rice… Well, it’s even harder for dogs to digest than white rice — so NO.

Foods To Always Keep On Hand For Dog Diarrhea

You never know when a case of dog diarrhea will strike — so it’s best to always be prepared!

This list will get you through a round of dog diarrhea, and give you lots of options if your dog decides to turn his nose up at one or more of them.

These are the human foods that I always keep in the house for dog diarrhea treatments:

• Biljac frozen dog food (you can find it at most grocery stores these days – in the regular refrigerated section of the store OR inside a refrigerated cabinet near the pet aisle)
• White rice (cooked, but not brown rice)
• Potatoes (roasted, and then mashed; white potatoes, sweet potatoes, or small baby potatoes – also called new potatoes, creamers. fingerlings, Yukon golds, baby russets)
• Canned chicken breast (it’s already been cooked)
• Eggs (scrambled)
• Chicken broth (or beef broth or vegetable broth, ideally low-sodium)
• Baby food (meat-based like chicken, lamb, or turkey)
• Canned pumpkin (100% pure, not pie filling!)

Having these foods on hand is especially helpful if you happen to be the only one home when your dog gets diarrhea — because I wouldn’t want to leave my dog home alone (with the squirts!) while I rush to the store.

If you don’t want to keep your pantry stocked with foods for your dog, then I would recommend keeping one of these Under The Weather freeze-dried food packets on hand year-round as a dog diarrhea treatment.

You just add water to any of these flavors:

• Rice, Chicken & Pumpkin Bland Dog Food Diet
• Rice, Turkey & Sweet Potato Dog Food Diet
• Rice, Hamburger & Bone Broth Dog Food Diet
• Rice & Chicken Bland Dog Food Diet

We’ve tried 2 of the 4 flavors listed above. They’ve been great for my dogs! We keep these on hand for times when we have a pet sitter stay with our dogs — because they’re so easy to prepare. You just add water, and the dogs love them.

In addition to being good for diarrhea, they’re also good for any other time your dog isn’t feeling well:

• Maybe your dog was chewing on a bone and bit off a bigger piece than they’re used to. As long as it was on this list of dog-friendly bones, it will likely pass without incident (eventually) — but the upset tummy may linger for a day or two.
• Any time a dog has been under anesthesia for surgery (or a spay/neuter procedure), veterinarians always recommend a bland dog food diet for the first day or two afterwards.
• If you switch dog food brands too quickly (rather than mixing the new brand in with the old brand and introducing it slowly), your dog might experience some discomfort in their digestive system.
• If your dog gets into the garbage can or eats too many scraps from your family meals, an upset tummy can result. (Hello, Pancreatitis!)
• You get the idea…

By the way, these Under The Weather bland dog food diets are also available in bulk package sizes — if you have more than one dog and want to make sure that you’re always prepared. (The shelf life is 3 years!)

To give you an idea of how much is in each packet… A single package of this freeze-dried bland diet gets us through one complete round of diarrhea with two 50-lb dogs, feeding several small meals of this food for 2 days.